This article is about the Interstate highway in Kentucky formerly proposed as Interstate 565. For the Interstate highway in Alabama, see Interstate 565.
The Interstate Highway begins at a cloverleaf interchange with I-65 (exit 20) near Bowling Green. The portion of the former William H. Natcher Parkway between US 231 and I-65 is not a part of the Interstate Highway System as per federal regulations and is designated as Kentucky Route 9007 (KY 9007). I-165 travels along the west side of the city, and continues in a northwesterly direction through rolling farmlands and near coal mines for 70.2 miles (113.0 km) before meeting its northern terminus at an interchange with US 60 in Owensboro. At exit 41, the freeway intersects with the Wendell H. Ford Western Kentucky Parkway. I-165 traverses Warren, ButlerOhio, and Daviess Counties, bypassing the cities of Morgantown, Beaver Dam, and Hartford.[citation needed]
The highway that is now I-165 opened in 1972 as the Green River Parkway and later became the William H. Natcher Parkway before receiving the I-165 designation. In early 2016, funding was set aside to rebuild and restore sections of the parkway to Interstate standards.[3][4] The idea of the upgrades was originally conceived in the 1990s as part of the I-66 Southern Kentucky Corridor Project. The parkway was originally assigned a "I-66 Spur" designation in 2008, but the cancellation of the I-66 project resulted in it being redesignated as "I-65 Spur" in 2015.[5] From July to August 2017, construction consisting of shoulder widening, drainage upgrades, and repaving was completed. Additional work is underway along the entirety of the parkway. In July 2018, major modernization upgrades began in the Warren County section, consisting of ramp extensions, guardrail replacement, LED lighting updates, and bridge wall replacement. Traffic flow was restricted to one lane, wide loads were prohibited, and the speed limit set to 55 mph (89 km/h). This work continued through the end of 2018. The US 231 interchange is currently under reconstruction, with it being converted from a standard cloverleaf to a parclo AB2, or folded diamond, interchange.[6] A new interchange may be constructed between the milemarkers 3.4 and 4, allowing access to Elrod Road in Bowling Green.[7]
On September 5, 2018, it was announced that the entire parkway would be signed with I-165 shields by the end of 2019, even before completion of the parkway's upgrades,[10] thus officially bringing it to Interstate status.[11][12][13] On March 6, 2019, the resigning of the freeway began, thus officially designating it as I-165, with exit numbers reverting to the parkway's original exit numbers prior to its extension to US 231 in November 2011.[14][15] In 2018, Representative Suzanne Miles of Owensboro introduced a bill that would have given the highway an honorary designation of "William H. Natcher Expressway", but the bill did not make it out of committee.[16]
^Special Committee on U.S. Route Numbering (September 24, 2017). "Special Committee on U.S. Route Numbering"(PDF) (Report). Washington, DC: American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials. Archived from the original(PDF) on June 3, 2019. Retrieved March 13, 2019.
